Bean Lake

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INTRODUCTION

Bean Lake is a typical shallow southern Minnesota Lake near the town of Storden in Cottonwood County, Minnesota. The 141-acre lake has a maximum depth of 10 feet. Bean Lake has a watershed acreage-to-lake acreage ratio of 3-to-1 indicating a fairly small watershed. The watershed acres of Bean Lake are agricultural with row crops and pattern tile drainage dominating the landscape. This altered hydrology leads to increased drainage which results in artificially increased water levels in lakes and streams following precipitation events. As a result, highly erodible soils within and along the watercourses and farm fields can lead to inputs of excessive nutrients. One indicator of excessive nutrients and inputs is high alkalinity, usually greater than 200 ppm (280 ppm in 2014 and unchanged at 280 ppm in 2020). Additionally, high productivity leads to high biological oxygen demand (BOD, accumulation of bacteria and living organisms in the lake that use oxygen separate from fish). Complications from a high BOD is magnified by ice and snow cover in the winter, eliminating or reducing the dissolved oxygen during winter. To combat this, aeration was started in 1991 by a local sportsman's club. From 1991 to 2013 there were no reported or observed winterkills due to low dissolved oxygen. However, during the winter of 2013-2014 there was thick ice (greater than 19 inches) coupled with longer than usual periods of snow cover on the ice that caused low dissolved oxygen. A partial fish kill was observed and documented in the late winter and early spring of 2014, with some fish surviving. Restocking of gamefish was coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and private stocking provided by Redrock Sportsman's Club. The restocking effort was successful as determined by a 2014 survey. A standard gill net and trap net survey with 2 gill nets and 8 trap nets was conducted in July of 2020 to monitor the fish community and continue to track the recovery of the fish population.

WALLEYE

Thirty-five Walleye between 16.9 and 20.9 inches (average = 18.6 inches) were caught in gillnets and 10 Walleye between 18.6 and 25.6 inches (average = 21.5 inches) were caught in trap nets. The gillnet catch rate of 17.5 per gillnet was just below the upper normal range for similar lakes (18.06/gillnet). The sizes of Walleye in the sample favored fish between 17 and 20 inches. Thirty-five Walleye were assigned an age by reading their ear bone (otolith) under a dissecting microscope. Thirty-four were age-3 and 1 was age-6. The 2017 stocking of Lower Mississippi Strain Walleye (Lake Sarah Strain) resulted in a very strong year class (97% of aged fish). Additionally, the health of the Walleye in the sample was good indicating they are finding adequate food. Walleye angling should be good, if not excellent, on Bean Lake over the next several years. Most Walleye will be near the 20 inch statewide regulation so be cognizant to only harvest 1 fish over 20 inches as part of your daily bag. Additionally, good numbers of Yellow Perch in the gill nets and trap nets should help feed larger Walleye which may create an opportunity to catch a Walleye over 25 inches over the next year or two. Overall, the Walleye population has rebounded well from the partial winterkill in 2013-2014.

YELLOW PERCH

Fifty-one Yellow Perch were captured in 2 gill nets and 2 Yellow Perch were captured in 8 trap nets. The gill net catch rate (25.5/gill net) was nearly identical to the upper normal range for similar lakes (25.0/gill net). Yellow Perch in the gill net ranged in length from 6.5 inches to 12.7 inches with an average length of 8.7 inches. The sizes of the Yellow Perch was well balanced with many fish 8 inches and bigger. In addition, the health of the Yellow Perch in the gill nets and trap nets was excellent. Angling for Yellow Perch in 2020 and 2021 could result in good numbers of fish larger than 9 inches. Particularly, ice angling could be good if the fish are actively feeding.

NORTHERN PIKE

Northern Pike are currently managed as the top predator for Bean Lake. Gill nets and trap nets in 2020 sampled 2 Northern Pike that were 29.3 inches and 35.4 inches. While the numbers per net (0 per gill net and 0.25 per trap net) were low, the 2 Northern Pike that were sampled reflect a potential small population of large Northern Pike that should help to reduce numbers of small undesired species and keep Yellow Perch from becoming overabundant and stunted. Future stocking will occur to help boost numbers of Northern Pike. However, large Northern Pike could be caught on Bean Lake. These large predators are beneficial to the Lake, so consider catch-and-release of Northern Pike if they are not foul hooked and they remain lively. The Current regulation in Southern Minnesota is 2 Northern Pike over 24 inches for daily limit and possession limit.

OTHER SPECIES

Other species sampled on Bean Lake were Black Bullhead, Black Crappie, Common Carp, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, and Yellow Bullhead. Black Bullhead were the most abundant of the species listed above, 51.5 were caught per gill net and 33.4 were caught per trap net. Black Bullhead averaged 9.9 inches in the gill net sample and 11.9 inches in the trap net sample. Black Crappie were caught at the highest abundance ever observed for Bean Lake with 12.5 per gill net and 0.4 per trap net. The average length of Black Crappie in the gill net sample was 6.7 inches and 8.4 inches in the trap net sample. While currently undersized for harvest, Black Crappie typically grow quickly and should be nearly 1 inch longer by summer 2021. Common Carp, Green Sunfish, Orangespotted Sunfish, and Yellow Bullhead were all only caught in trap nets at rates less than 1 fish per trap net (Species = number/trap net; Common Carp = 0.5, Green Sunfish = 0.13, Orangespotted Sunfish = 0.25, and Yellow Bullhead = 0.25).

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